Chapter 1: Living with Art
Chapter Concepts
Arts in Daily Life
Learning Objective: Recognize ways that we live with art.
Concepts
Art is part of our everyday lives in the form of monuments and archaeological items.
Art reflects and is affected by the beliefs and attitudes of its era.
Art has been used as war booty.
Art can affect history.
Art affects our habits and language.
Examples
1.1 Antonin Mercié, Robert E. Lee monument
1.2 Maya Lin, Vietnam Veterans Memorial
1.3 Sutton Hoo helmet
1.1 Antonin Mercié, Robert E. Lee monument
1.2 Maya Lin, Vietnam Veterans Memorial
1.4 Interior of Oba's compound
1.5 Benin plaque: Warrior and Attendants
1.7 Stowage of the British slave ship Brookes
1.8 Lewis Hine, One of the spinners in Whitnel Cotton Mfg. Co. N.C.
1.9 Eddie Adams, Execution, Saigon, South Vietnam
1.10FedEx Truck
Art contributes to community redevelopment. 1.11Frank O. Gehry, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Memes and digital imaging programs offer the opportunity for everyone to make art.
What Is Art?
1.12Wynwood Walls, Miami
1.13Bernie in Chiquita Banana logo
Learning Objective: Identify characteristics common to what we call art.
Concepts Examples
The definition of art is broad and accounts for a wide variety of objects and monuments.
1.14 Leonardo Da Vinci, Mona Lisa 1.15 Marcel Duchamp, Fountain
At different points in time, art has been distinguished from craft N/A
Art records and commemorates.
1.16 Attic black-figure neck amphora 1.22 Dito von Tease, Frida Kahlo Selfie
Art gives visual form to feelings and ideas 1.17 Maria van Oosterwijck, Vanitas
Art gives visual form to the unknown 1.18 Shiva Nataraja
Art creates places for some human purpose. 1.19 Colosseum, Rome
Art makes extraordinary versions of ordinary objects.
1.20 Indonesian necklace
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Art refreshes our vision and helps us see the world in new ways.
Learning to Look
1.21 Doris Salcedo, Shibboleth
1.22 Dito von Tease, Frida Kahlo Selfie
Learning Objective: Describe the value of visual literacy.
Concepts
Learning about art teaches critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and respect for cultural patrimony.
Visual literacy builds looking skills applicable beyond the study of art.
Examples
1.23 Vandalized petroglyphs
1.24 Georgetown University School of Medicine first year medical students at the National Gallery of Art
Art can be used to persuade and deceive. 1.25 Gillian Wearing, Wearing, Gillian Data visualization translates complex ideas into visual form.
1.26 Orbis terrae novissima descriptio
1.27 Relaciones geograficas map of Amoltepec
1.28 Enrique Chagoya, Road Map
1.29 AuthaGraph map
Maps are a form of data visualization. 1.26 Orbis terrae novissima descriptio
1.27 Relaciones geograficas map of Amoltepec
1.28 Enrique Chagoya, Road Map 1.29 AuthaGraph map
Even data visualizations reflect their makers’ perspective and biases. 1.26 Orbis terrae novissima descriptio
1.27 Relaciones geograficas map of Amoltepec
1.28 Enrique Chagoya, Road Map
1.29 AuthaGraph map
Featured Essays
Artists: Maya Lin
Presenting the Ideas
1. Use the sections “Living with Art” and “Art in Daily Life” to talk about how we engage with art every day. Emphasize the distinct ways that art has interacted with and affected human society. Present three to five images that illustrate the breadth of artistic objects we live with, first having students record their thoughts and then break into small groups to share these ideas.
2. Open the discussion of the “What Is Art” section by having students develop a one-sentence definition of art in small groups. Then, pair the groups to form a common definition. Have each paired group share their definitions for the class to choose a definition.
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3. Direct students to “Learning to Look” section and discuss how visual literacy functions in their lives. Emphasize that “learning to look at and to view images critically are valuable skills for the 21st century” across all majors and in daily life. Refer students to the ways that images have been used to affect public opinion. Ask students to think about their experiences with manipulated photographs.
Discussion Topics
1. How do you live with art in your own community?
2. In your opinion, which work of art in “Art in Daily Life” most profoundly affected its community or the course of history. Pick one artwork to support and explain in detail.
3. How do you define art?
4. Why is it important to develop visual literacy skills? How do you use visual literacy in your studies and daily life?
Class Activities and Project Suggestions
1. Consider the purposes for which several public sculptures or memorials (located in your area) were created, perhaps comparing their forms and purposes with those of Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial. What message do these works communicate about the area, people, or themes that they represent? Have the monuments recently come under scrutiny?
2. Search online for a photograph or other image that summarizes an issue or event happening today or in the recent past. Present the image you selected and explain how the work captures the essence of the issue or event.
3. Play a game of “What Is Art?” Use the characteristics outlined in the chapter to go beyond painting and sculpture. Consider your surroundings and make a list of familiar items that record and commemorate (such as selfies), create places for human purpose (such as school buildings), are extraordinary versions of ordinary objects (such as a wedding dress), and so on. Compare notes with a few classmates afterward and see if you can discover and understand why your lists have similarities and differences.
4. Look up “Photoshop fails” online. Then use a smartphone to edit a photograph in a way that alters reality and manipulates the viewer’s perception of the subject
5. Create a map of your community or school that is based on physical proximities. Then redraw the map like the Amoltepec map (see 1.27), emphasizing relationships rather than measurable distances. Think about what should go in the center and what should be placed closer to or farther from that object or place.
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